A BOOST OUR CITY NEEDS

IN a city where accidents and crime too often cast a bleak pall, our report today that the State Government is committing to an injection of 44 extra police is a beacon of hope.

This is a big step in the right direction. It is a step towards making the streets safer. It is a step towards breaking the grip drugs and those who profit from them have on too many people across all sections of Gold Coast society, and as a result it promises to help free the elderly and other vulnerable people from the fear of assault and robbery.

It is a step towards maintaining the tight rein police established over the outlaw gangs that thought they ruled the streets.

And it can be a major weapon in the fight against a crime that is a cancer in our Gold Coast community – domestic or family violence.

The Bulletin has fought long and hard for police numbers to be boosted.

We have campaigned for governments, the courts and the police hierarchy to target the blight of domestic violence, which has been destroying families and ruining the hopes and dreams of women and children who have a right to a happy life and a bright future. Why should they have to live in fear, running away to hide in refuges or sleep rough while violent men hunt them?

Police on the ground here have worked hard to protect the vulnerable. They should not have to worry about budgets. Those additional 44 officers will make a difference, as will the provision of special domestic violence officers to train others.

Our society is only as strong as its weakest link. If police numbers are inadequate, we are on a slippery slope. And if the courts fail to exercise powers available to them under the law, then we go over the edge.

The Government’s decision to boost police numbers is welcome news indeed.